Captain Black Beard
Before Plastic

The captain with the black beard is back with a new album, one that certainly look stronger than the first one. But a better cover art is just one thing, the band now has a record label and all of that. I liked this Swedish quartet last time around, their self titled album seemed to not give a shit about anything but being good melodic rock music true to form and not afraid to let their influences shine through. Said album might however be a hard act to follow as it was a strong balancing act where there are many pitfalls to have a misstep along the way. So how does the captain do this time?

The captain takes it musical leaf from the same book as they took the music of the debut. It is a nod backwards in time, a nod to the classics. Bands like Kiss or Thin Lizzy comes to mind when trying to compare this band to something that has come before. It is energetic a tad raw and so on, this album is somewhat more polished than before but still it is a bit more rockish than much of what comes through today. I like the production, it is a very solid one. The variation is decent over the eleven tracks and you would have to be easily bored not to find the album entertaining enough to last the entire playing time. I think you could say that the band has taken a step forwards musically, they sound more mature this time around.

Maybe not as fresh and exciting as the debut album, it has more finesse but less of the fresh raw feel that was so good on the debut. With a more mature sound I think they can be seen as bit more inoffensive and a bit less exciting than they were on their debut album. Better or worse than the debut? Well, less exciting and less fresh but I would not really want to say wether or not it is better than the debut, I like the debut more than this one but I do not believe all will agree with that. If you liked the debut you will most likely find this album very appealing. It is easy to conclude that Captain Black Beard has made another quality release, even though I would have wanted something a bit more exciting, they don’t quite do the balancing act as well this time as it becomes a bit of an homage to the old classics rather than a fresh perspective.

Still, this is a good and entertaining album with some real highlights like Bad Girl and Takin’ You Out, these are excellent songs. These are brilliant songs that really stand out and would suit on more or less any great melodic rock album. It is an album for the one into nostalgia and enjoys their music of the older school. I like this album, it has been enjoyable to listen to it but I still think that the debut was better.

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